Sooty the puppet

Sooty is a British puppet and TV character popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The children's television show which bears the same name and has featured the character since the 1950s was, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest-running children's programme in the UK. Image File history File links Sootywave. ... A puppet is a representational object manipulated by a puppeteer. ... See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ...

Sooty was originally devised by Harry Corbett (nephew of fish and chip shop chain owner Harry Ramsden), who bought the puppet as a present for his son, Matthew Corbett, from a stall when he was on holiday in Blackpool in 1948. Sooty, a small yellow bear with black ears, who was mute to the audience but could communicate with Harry by apparently whispering in his ear, was featured on BBC TV from 1952. The original bear was completely yellow, and Harry covered his ears and nose with soot so that he would show up better on black and white television - hence the puppet's name. He would later be joined by other puppet characters Sweep (a dog which communicated by a saxophone reed type squeak), Soo (a shy and sweetly spoken panda), Kipper (a cat), Butch (another dog who occasionally played the part of a villain), Ramsbottom (a snake), 'Enry the Robot (a robot), Cousin Scampi (another bear), Miki (another cat - this time, novelly, Brazilian) and Maggie Mouse (a mouse). Following Harry Corbett's retirement, Sooty was operated by his son Matthew, and enjoyed a new wave of popularity. Harry Corbett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Although widely available, fish and chips have become particularly popular in seaside towns. ... Presented The Sooty Show. ... This article is about the town in England. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sweep - a grey, glove puppet dog with long black ears - joined the Sooty show in 1957. ...

Sooty's personality fluctuated between kindness, cheekiness, and downright naughtiness, very often misinterpreting things said or suggested by Harry, Matthew or Soo (possibly intentionally). He played the xylophone and kept a wand with which he performed magic. This was accompanied by the catchphrase "Izzy wizzy, let's get busy!" His water pistol also became an icon - Matthew usually on the end of a soaking, although even royalty have fallen foul of the water. Matthew carried on Harry's tradition of ending every show with the line "Bye bye everybody, bye bye", and in Matthew's final ever episode, his final scene was a collection of him saying the immortal words from the preceding years. Kulintang a Kayo, a Philippine xylophone The xylophone (from the Greek meaning wooden sound) is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Indonesia. ... Look up magic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In the late nineties, Matthew Corbett retired, marking the end of Sooty and Co. (based around the idea of the Sooty gang running a shop that "sells almost everything") and essentially gifted Sooty to then co-star Richard Cadell, who presented the show through another five series, at first under the name Sooty Heights, then under the name, Sooty, both set at a hotel. He was joined in these by two female co-hosts, starting with Liana Bridges from 1999-2000 who worked in Sooty and Co. in the same period he did, and then Vicki Lee Taylor from 2001-2003, who had previously worked on The Queen's Nose. Presented The Sooty Show. ... Sooty Heights is an English childrens television series. ... Vicki Lee Taylor, born on 10 August 1984, hails from Grimsby. ... The Queens Nose is a book written by Dick King-Smith, that was adapted into a successful BBC television series. ...

Sooty is frequently shown on the CITV Channel in the UK, usually weekdays at 3pm. The CITV Channel is a British childrens TV station from ITV plc and the Channel 3 breakfast licensee GMTV (6am-9:25am). ...

In October 2007 it was announced that the rights to Sooty and his friends had been put up for sale by their owners, Hit Entertainment.^[1]

History

• First appears on the BBC's Talent Night (1952)
• Sooty and Harry become regulars on the BBC children's show Saturday Special (1952-1955)
• The Sooty Show is aired on the BBC (1955-1967)
  • In 1957 Sooty is joined by Sweep, and in 1964 Soo is introduced as Sooty's girlfriend
• The Sooty Show is cancelled by the BBC, changes to Thames Television and is aired on ITV (1968–1992)
  • In 1976 Matthew takes over his father's role
  • In 1990, Sooty's little cousin Scampi arrived causing mischief, originally just a one-off character, but joined the line-up one year later
• Sooty & Co. is aired on ITV with Granada Television (1993–1998)
• Sooty's Amazing Adventures, an animated cartoon series is aired (1996–1997)
  • In 1998, Matthew retired and hand-picked Richard Cadell and Liana Bridges to replace him
• Sooty Heights was aired on ITV (1999–2000)
• Sooty was aired on ITV (2001-2004)
• Sooty, and occasionally Sooty Heights, can currently be seen weekdays, 3pm on the CITV Channel in the UK.

For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Sweep - a grey, glove puppet dog with long black ears - joined the Sooty show in 1957. ... Thames Television was a franchise holder of the British ITV television network, serving London on weekdays between 1968 and 1992. ... For other uses, see ITV (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The CITV Channel is a British childrens TV station from ITV plc and the Channel 3 breakfast licensee GMTV (6am-9:25am). ...

TV series

• The Sooty Show (1955-1992)
• Sooty & Co. (1993-1998)
• Sooty Heights (1999-2000)
• Sooty (2001-2004)

There was also an animated cartoon series, Sooty's Amazing Adventures, aired from 1996–1997. Sooty appeared on US television on The Mickey Mouse Club, each Tuesday during the first two seasons. Sooty is a British puppet character popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries. ... Sooty & Co. ... Sooty Heights is an English childrens television series. ... Annette Funicello on The Mickey Mouse Club The Mickey Mouse Club was a very long-running variety television series in the 1950s, produced and televised by the Walt Disney Studios, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers, of which the most popular was Annette Funicello. ...

Stage shows

Sooty also had a successful number of (mainly Christmas) stage shows across the UK.

During Matthew Corbett's reign, seven stage shows were performed repetitively. For the first half of the tours, Matthew and Connie Creighton would present, and during the second half, while Matthew was busy writing and filming the TV shows, Connie and Spencer K. Gibbens would present.

• Sooty's Creepy Castle (1984/1985 - 1991/1992)
• Sooty's Picnic (1985/1986 - 1992/1993)
• Sooty's World Cruise (1986/1987 - 1993/1994)
• Sooty's Wild West Show (1987/1988 - 1994/1995)
• Sooty in Space (1988/1989 - 1995/1996)
• Sooty's Circus (1989/1990 - 1996/1997)
• The House That Sooty Built (1990/1991 - 1997/1998)

In the early 2000s, as Sooty (2001-2004) was airing, five stage shows toured the country. All starring Richard Cadell, three of them also featured Richard's Sooty Heights co-star, Liana Bridges.

• The Magic and Mayhem Tour (2001/2002)
• Sooty's Magical Mystery Tour
• The Comedy and Chaos Tour (2003/2004)
• Sooty's Treasure Hunt
• Sooty's Magic Farm

From 2005, annual shows, featuring the puppet characters and various different presenters, toured around the UK. More information.

• Sooty's Magic Castle (2005)
• The Wet and Wild Show (2006)
• The Izzy Wizzy Holiday Show (2007)
• Sooty's Magic Wand Factory (2008)

Books

Sooty's fourth annual

In the early to mid 1960s, there were at least five Sooty annuals published by the London Daily Mirror. These features an expanded cast of characters including: Image File history File links Download high resolution version (821x1120, 49 KB) Summary Cover of Sootys fourth annual, published by the Daily Mirror London, and printed by L.T.A Robinson Ltd. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (821x1120, 49 KB) Summary Cover of Sootys fourth annual, published by the Daily Mirror London, and printed by L.T.A Robinson Ltd. ... An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ...

• Sooty, who was shown as white not yellow and wore red trousers.
• Sweep, also white not grey, who walked on all fours like a normal dog, but could stand as a biped to play the bugle and so on.
• Cokey the clown, another close friend of Sooty.
• Mr Fusspot, Mayor of TV Town where the action takes place.
• PC Nab, one of the police of TV Town.
• Calico Joe, a fully clothed cat who smokes, always stands erect as a biped, and is the normal villain.
• Ali Artful, a black man who wears a fez and everyone knows is a thief.

A Sooty annual also appeared in 1991-92. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A Fez The Fez (also known as the Checheya or Tarboosh) is a red felt hat in the shape of a truncated cone; a black tassel hangs from the crown. ...

Guest appearances

• The Sooty show had a number of celebrities from all walks of life making an appearance on the show. Most notable was Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain who is a self confessed Sooty fan and always has the puppet as a mascot on the front of his drumkit, and has occasionally donned a full size Sooty costume at shows as an entrance.
• A number of famous faces made cameo appearances - usually as themselves - in Sooty and Co, including Gareth Hunt, Matthew Kelly, William Roache, Jack Dee, Paul Merton, Shane Ritchie, Frank Bruno, Neil Buchanan, Jim Bowan, Harry Hill, Barbie Wilde and Father Christmas!
• Sooty and Matthew Corbett had appeared on a Christmas episode of They Think It's All Over, attacking Nick Hancock with Sooty's water pistol after Hancock ruled against them in one game. Hancock exacted revenge by emptying a bottle of water over Corbett's head.
• Sooty also appeared in the video for "Is This the Way to Amarillo" 2005 remake mimed by Peter Kay. Sooty and his co star Sweep (puppet) appeared on the shoulders of Peter Kay as he ran down a corridor.
• Sweep (albeit with his face blurred) appeared in an episode of the BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in the East End of London. ... Michael Henry McBrain (born June 5, 1952 in Hackney, London, England) is the drummer for heavy metal band Iron Maiden. ... Barbie Wilde is an actress, best known for appearing as the Female Cenobite in Hellbound: Hellraiser II - the second of eight Hellraiser films based on Clive Barkers novella, The Hellbound Heart. Barbie has also performed in cabaret in Bangkok; travelled to Bombay to appear in the Bollywood blockbuster, Janbazz... They Think Its All Over (1995-2006) is the name of a British satirical game show with a sporting theme produced by TalkbackTHAMES and shown on BBC One. ... Is This the Way to Amarillo is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, referring to Amarillo, Texas. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Sweep - a grey, glove puppet dog with long black ears - joined the Sooty show in 1957. ... Goodness Gracious Me is a BBC English language Sketch comedy show originally on BBC Radio 4 and later televised on BBC Two (comprising of three seasons running from from 1996 to 1998) based on four British Asian actors: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia. ...

Controversy

Although an innocent children's TV programme, Sooty did occasionally come under some controversy with the British watchdogs. Moments included:

• In 1964, the show was accused of placing sex into children's television, by the introduction of Sooty's Panda girlfriend, Soo.
• Pushing hard drugs - a 1980's episode had Sooty attempting to lock Sweep into a tranquilizing booth.
• Being anti-police - Sooty hitting PC Nab over the head with a toy hammer.
• Product placement was occasionally featured on the Sooty Show and Sooty & Co in the 1990s. Examples of this includes the episode where Sooty, Sweep et al go to Camelot Theme Park. This was featured as one of the four pictures from the Odd One Out round on an episode of Have I Got News for You on the subject of product placement.
• The character of Butch being criticised as being too frightening to young children.
• During the mid-nineties an episode was broadcast where Soo pretended to be pregnant in order to play a trick on Matthew, following a visit from a (human) friend who had just had a baby.^[2] This storyline has subsequently been twisted into an urban legend that Soo was actually pregnant despite the converse being clear to the viewer from the start of the episode. Such storylines are commonplace in television for young children who are likely to question the appearance of new siblings. Soo's ruse included pretending to crave unusual foods, morning sickness and placing a cushion underneath her dress. The combination of these "symptoms" was seemingly enough to fool Matthew for the duration of the episode.
• On the Weakest Link "Puppets Special" broadcast in December 2007, Roland Rat claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Soo.

A sedative is a substance that depresses the central nervous system (CNS), resulting in calmness, relaxation, reduction of anxiety, sleepiness, and slowed breathing, as well as slurred speech, staggering gait, poor judgment, and slow, uncertain reflexes. ... For other uses, see Hammer (disambiguation). ... Wikibooks [[wikibooks:|]] has more about this subject: Marketing Product placement advertisements are promotional ads placed by marketers using real commercial products and services in media, where the presence of a particular brand is the result of an economic exchange. ... Camelot Theme Park is a resort and Theme Park in Charnock Richard, Chorley, Lancashire, England based on the legend of Camelot. ... Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show; produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been running since 1990. ... Weakest Link (early episodes had the on-screen title The Weakest Link) is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000. ... Roland Rat (also Roland Rat Superstar) is a British television puppet character. ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• In Sooty's late-sixties' and early-seventies' shows, a musical act featured were The Sooty Braden Showband. This featured Sooty and friends on various instruments playing alongside Musical Director Alan Braden and his band. The Sooty Show would close with a rousing performance from the band.
• Richard Cadell actually made a guest appearance in The Sooty Show Christmas Special in the 1980s - 10 years before taking over from Matthew Corbett.
• A large number of shows ended with or contained a song relating in someway to the episode, although over the years a number of songs were repeated and quickly became classics - the most famous being "Battle Of The Drums" and "Home Is Where The Heart Is".
• Twice during the Sooty Heights era, ITV2 declared Christmas Day as being "Sooty Day" - and dedicated its schedule to episodes and documentaries about Sooty.
• Sooty appeared on Kellogg's "Puffa Sugar Stars" cereal in the 1960s, then on "Puffa Puffa Rice" cereal starting in 1973.
• The Doug Anthony Allstars wrote a song describing Sooty as a skinhead.
• There used to be an extremely popular 'World of Sooty' museum in Shipley, West Yorkshire open in the early 1990s, but this was later replaced by an animatronic cat exhibition, which was in turn replaced by a marketing agency. There were also Sooty related attractions at the now defunct Granada Studios Tour in Manchester, and also at The American Adventure Theme Park in Derbyshire until the late 1990's. The park has since closed.
• The original Sooty now resides in the northern UK village of Brancepeth near Durham, with owner Charlotte Lonsdale also possessing a more recent version of the famous puppet.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... The title of music director is used by many symphony orchestras to designate the primary conductor and artistic leader of the orchestra. ... Sooty is a British puppet character popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries. ... The Doug Anthony All Stars (DAAS) were an Australian musical comedy group comprising Tim Ferguson, Richard Fidler and Paul McDermott. ... Shipley is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, north of Bradford and close to Saltaire. ... Coat of Arms of South Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, that has a population of 2. ... Granada Studios Tour was an entertainment complex in Castlefield, Manchester operating from 1988 to 1999. ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... This article is about the English theme park. ... Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... Brancepeth is a village in County Durham, about 5 miles from Durham on the road towards Weardale. ... Durham City could be: The city of Durham, County Durham The City of Durham local government district The Northern League football team Durham City A.F.C. Category: ...

See also

• Soo (puppet)
• Sweep (puppet)

Sweep - a grey, glove puppet dog with long black ears - joined the Sooty show in 1957. ...

References

External links

• Official site
• Reaching Brand New Sooty Heights
• JB Entertainment and Events
• Original The Sooty Show theme